Death of a Nationalist

4.5What a breath of fresh air! A whodunit/procedural set at a unique historical time and and told from the POV of two improbable protagonists. #shoppinginyourbookshelvespaysoffIt's 1939 and Madrid, the last holdout during the Spanish Civil War, has finally fallen to Franco's Nationalist forces. The Guardia Civil is tasked with rounding up the remaining Republicans or Reds who are still in hiding and trying to bring the rest of the citizenry into the ¡Viva España! fold. By fear or persuasion. During Holy Week a Guardia turns up dead and Sergeant Tejada is tasked with finding the culprit. Not being a trained detective Tejada stumbles through an investigation, gets a lot wrong, has cause to question many of his closely held beliefs, ultimately finds the culprit, and a version of justice is achieved. One of his blunders causes his polar opposite, Gonzalo Llorente a fugitive Red, to start his own line of inquiry. No joy. Using this two opposite sides of what is ultimately the same coin allows [a:Rebecca Powell 1172410 Rebecca Powell https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] to show a nuanced & rounded picture of not only the Spaniards of the era but human beings in general. Absolute villains or saints are scarce on the ground and most people are composed of both light & shadow. I really liked this and I particularly liked Tejada as an antihero protagonist. I'd be interested in following his adventures. suggested reading about post-war Madrid [b:La colmena 61773 La colmena Camilo José Cela https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1402830817l/61773.SY75.jpg 1176253]